How to Empower Employees in the Hospitality Industry (2024)

Employee empowerment means turning over decision-making responsibilities and authority to front-line employees. In the hospitality industry, enabling your sales, service and kitchen staff to make decisions can improve morale and increase customer service in responding to problems.

Clearly Define Service Standards

To expect your employees to make effective decisions, you must first clearly define your service standards, such as ensuring that every customer leaves satisfied. With clearly defined goals, employees have a guideline to follow when making decisions. If you don't provide standards, your employees won't feel as comfortable addressing client or customer problems.

Role-Play Training

Role-playing various service scenarios with employees allows them to work through the process of listening to a customer complaint, making a decision and acting on it. Additionally, you get a chance to see how each employee works through the steps of service resolution. This experience allows you to coach them on improvements. In a hotel, for instance, you can role play through a potential guest problem, observe the worker's response and then offer suggestions on better alternatives moving forward.

Reward Effective Decisions

When a hospitality employee makes a good call in a service situation, it is important to recognize that. In a restaurant, you can praise or reward an employee who makes a quick decision that leads to a positive customer experience. Rewarding proactive and effective decisions help increase the confidence of a worker in making independent decisions. Some hospitality companies give employee of the month awards, and honoring a worker who consistently makes good decisions can reinforce the value of empowerment in the organization.

Discuss Alternatives

Arming your hospitality workers with choices to resolve problems can increase their comfort level as well. In a restaurant, a server should know what she can do if a customer is unhappy with a meal, for instance. A free meal voucher, a complimentary appetizer or a comped bill are possible options. Naturally, you want to coach the employee on when to use each option. Similarly, a hotel service worker could use room discounts, free restaurant meals or future room vouchers to address guest complaints.

How to Empower Employees in the Hospitality Industry (2024)

FAQs

How to Empower Employees in the Hospitality Industry? ›

Create a work environment that encourages employees to do their best, speak their minds, and contribute to discussions and projects. You can empower employees by making the office a positive place where all people and opinions are welcome.

How will you empower your employees? ›

Create a work environment that encourages employees to do their best, speak their minds, and contribute to discussions and projects. You can empower employees by making the office a positive place where all people and opinions are welcome.

How do you empower a hotel staff? ›

15 Effective Tips for Managing Hotel Staff
  1. Communicate Clearly. ...
  2. Offer Comprehensive Training. ...
  3. Empower Your Team. ...
  4. Schedule Staff Efficiently. ...
  5. Provide Recognition and Rewards. ...
  6. Focus on Wellness. ...
  7. Offer Performance Feedback. ...
  8. Implement Automation and Technology.
Oct 23, 2023

What is an example of employee empowerment in a restaurant? ›

Employee empowerment is fostered through providing growth opportunities and recognition of top performers. The best go on to take leadership roles, and several—a mix of chefs, general managers and longtime employees—are now owners. ​Since 2019, I've turned over 5 of my restaurants to these stars.

How to create an happier employees in the hospitality industry? ›

Examples of Good Employee Engagement
  1. Providing opportunities for professional development and growth.
  2. Encouraging open communication and feedback between staff members and departments.
  3. Offering competitive compensation and benefits packages.
  4. Creating a positive work culture that values teamwork and collaboration.

What are the three empowerment strategies for employees? ›

Strategies for Employee Empowerment
  • Empowerment Does Not Mean Removing Structure. ...
  • Give More Information. ...
  • Encourage Two-Way Communication. ...
  • Keep Your Employees Accountable.

How do leaders empower employees? ›

Consistently seeking, giving and incorporating and directs them toward common goals. Employees who feel valued and know their managers listen to their opinions are almost always engaged and empowered.

Why is employee empowerment important in the hospitality industry? ›

Employee empowerment means turning over decision-making responsibilities and authority to front-line employees. In the hospitality industry, enabling your sales, service and kitchen staff to make decisions can improve morale and increase customer service in responding to problems.

What is big five in hospitality industry? ›

Goldberg (1981) used the big five model to delineate the five dimensions of personality traits, hence emotional stability, conscientiousness, agreeable, extraversion, and openness to experience.

Why is it important to empower your employees to some degree in the hospitality industry? ›

The goal of employee empowerment is to create a culture of trust, collaboration, and engagement, as well as to foster innovation and give employees a sense of autonomy and ownership. For businesses, that means increased productivity, loyalty, and motivation from their team.

What is empowerment in hospitality? ›

This means allowing employees to make their own decisions in certain situations that may affect the organisation. Team empowerment happens when a group of employees takes on the responsibility and authority to make decisions and act without having to wait for approval from a supervisor.

What is the 3 major types of empowerment? ›

Types of Empowerment
  • Personal Empowerment. This type of empowerment focuses on enhancing an individual's self-confidence, self-esteem and sense of personal agency. ...
  • Economic Empowerment. ...
  • Political Empowerment. ...
  • Organizational Empowerment. ...
  • Community Empowerment. ...
  • Gender Empowerment. ...
  • Environmental Empowerment. ...
  • Digital Empowerment.
May 24, 2022

How are Starbucks employees empowered? ›

Answer and Explanation: Starbucks makes employees feel validated and motivated through their supervision, training, and benefits. Starbucks names barista employees as partners to help them feel valued and supported. This helps employees feel important in the company.

How do you stand out in the hospitality industry? ›

In this article, we will delve into five comprehensive strategies that can help your hospitality business truly stand out and create unforgettable experiences for your guests.
  1. Exceptional Customer Service:
  2. Unique Guest Experiences:
  3. Embrace Technology:
  4. Sustainability and Wellness:
  5. Engage on Social Media:
Nov 7, 2023

How do you build good teamwork in the hospitality industry? ›

In this article, we will share some tips on how to foster teamwork in Hospitality Management education and practice.
  1. 1 Set clear and realistic goals. ...
  2. 2 Encourage participation and feedback. ...
  3. 3 Celebrate diversity and creativity. ...
  4. 4 Resolve conflicts constructively. ...
  5. 5 Reward and recognize achievements. ...
  6. 6 Learn and grow together.
Sep 20, 2023

What is the best strategy to have teamwork in hospitality industry? ›

Successful teamwork in the hospitality industry is exemplified through the seamless collaboration between front desk and housekeeping teams. As guests arrive and depart, effective communication ensures that rooms are promptly cleaned and prepared for check-in, contributing to a positive guest experience.

What does it mean to empower employees? ›

Employee empowerment refers to the authority and the freedom a company gives its employees to make decisions and take the necessary steps to achieve goals. Allowing employees to have more control over their work is the best way to optimise their performance and benefit the organisation.

What is employee empowerment with example? ›

Employee empowerment is how a company or organization provides a certain amount of control and autonomy within each employee's daily tasks and activities. That can mean helping create and manage new systems, having a say in improving processes or enjoying less oversight from management.

How do you empower people? ›

Mindfully adopting practices that empower others is a great place to start.
  1. Share Knowledge. Knowledge can be transformative. ...
  2. Share Your Story. ...
  3. Listen to Other People's Stories. ...
  4. Stand Up for Others. ...
  5. Embrace Positivity. ...
  6. Build Support Networks.
Jan 28, 2022

What are the three 3 main objectives of empowerment? ›

The 3 Keys to Empowerment revisits the three keys discussed in another Blanchard book, Empowerment Takes More Than a Minute. These three keys are: share information with everyone, create autonomy through boundaries and let teams become the hierarchy.

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